1. Field
The present invention relates generally to hair coloring tools and methods for mixing hair coloring compositions, and more particularly to a portable hair coloring kit and method for mixing hair coloring compositions to color roots of the user's hair to a matching color to the hair shafts.
2. State of the Art
Hair coloring has been done for hundreds if not thousands of years by women to change and enhance their appearance and to cover graying hair. More recently, men have increasingly colored their hair generally for the same reasons. In the past hair coloring dyes were based on naturally occurring dyes such as those produced by plants or various minerals. In modern times, there are numerous hair coloring products, including coloring shampoos and weekly rinses, semi-permanent hair coloring compositions, and permanent hair coloring compositions.
Many hair coloring products require mixing together of two or more components prior to application to the user's hair, such as a liquid or paste hair coloring composition and a liquid developer or fixing solution. The liquid hair coloring composition may be packaged in a squeeze bottle and the hair coloring paste may be packaged in a squeeze tube. The hair dresser typically mixes the required quantities of hair coloring composition and fixing solution in a bowl or similar container. The mixed coloring composition is applied to the user's hair using one of a number of types of brushes commercially available for the task similar in design to paint brushes.
Coloring may be done of all the user's hair or only to portions of the hair such as in “streaking” the hair. Touch-up coloring is required following full coloring to color the hair roots grown out since the last hair coloring to match the color of the previously colored hair shafts. This may require blending or mixing together of hair coloring compositions of several different colors to match the previously colored hair shafts. Usually a minimum amount of the hair coloring composition is prepared to do the job as the hair coloring materials are quite expensive.
In an effort to more conveniently mix hair coloring compositions of different colors, a hair coloring kit which better enables a user to mix custom colors of hair coloring compositions is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,175 issued to Stanley, III. The kit includes a liquid base composition, a plurality of color concentrates, and a dispenser. The color concentrates provided include the colors green, yellow, blue, red, orange, brown, white, black or any other colors such as purple or any other shades or variations of these colors. The color concentrates can be provided as liquids packaged in respective containers such as vials with a medicine dropper, syringe or eye dropper for transferring the color concentrate from the vials for mixing with the base composition. Alternatively, the vials may each be provided with a cap such that the color concentrates are poured from the respective vials. The color concentrates are mixed with the base composition in the dispenser to form a custom color. The hair coloring composition of the custom color is then sprayed onto the user's hair. The base composition can be a conventional hair spray which also holds the user's hair in place. The base composition could also be a tablet or powder that is mixed with water to form the liquid base composition.
The kit of Stanley, III has several substantial shortcomings. Firstly, the kit cannot be used to mix conventional hair coloring materials which may be quite close to the desired color, requiring only slight tinting. Rather, the basic green, yellow, blue, red, orange, brown, white, black must be mixed to produce the desired color. This can be very difficult to produce the desired color. Likewise, the kit cannot interface with the containers used to package conventional hair coloring materials. Finally, the kit does not provide a sufficient measuring devices for portioning the color concentrates and base composition, provides no mixing device such as a stirring stick, provides no application brush or similar application device, provides no protective gloves, provides no cleaning brush or similar device, and provides no carrying device such as a carrying bag or carrying case.
Therefore, there is a need for a hair coloring kit for use with conventional hair coloring materials which provides a complete set of kit components to conduct the hair coloring process. This might include a container device, one or more measuring devices, a stirring device, protective gloves, an applicator device, and a container in which to store the kit components during periods of non-use. The kit would include cleanable, reusable kit components and/or a plurality of disposable kit components.